School fees have risen by 19% in the space of 12 months

[Findingfactsaboutfees]

AIBU to think this is outrageous ?! Fees are exorbitant anyhow and in the last 12 months we have had an increase of 19% by way of 2 increases in a 12 month period. Fees per year for the senior school are £16690 per year and do not include state of the art facilities as other local schools do. The junior school fees aren't much less either! This is a school in the north of England. If you are paying for education, where are you based and how much do you pay? I wonder whether it is comparable.

Private education will only be for the ultra-rich if fees continue to rise at the rate that they are. It is unsustainable for most working professionals who are comfortable but not ultra-wealthy! Parents locally have tried to take their children out but can't as there are no state school places to be had within a 12 mile radius. The only other option is home schooling which isn't possible when the parents are working full time. We're not yet at the point where we are thinking of taking our child out of school but hearing the plight of those who are in the process of trying to is worrying. I've always been a labour voter but if they do go ahead with the introduction of VAT, I fear it's going to get even worse.

. State Schools will have to absorb more kids with limited funding

1. State School class sizes will increase

They dont have to

That will be down to government policy .
Fund more teachers
Build more space
Tax the rich to fund education for all

If the screaming m c voters push the govt to do the right thing and prioritise quality education for all things can change.

No beef either way but the poster comparing the education of our future citizens to being able to afford a nice car rather than an old banger is being ridiculous.

That was me. Do you not understand figurative speech?

Slightly confused by your point. Not that it is relevant, but I went to Oxbridge too (state school educated though). Yes you are right that there are now a significant proportion of state school educated students at Oxbridge, but privately educated students are still over represented. That is the issue.

Honestly, this type of response is the reason why people vote Conservative.
You seem to despise « the rich » but aren’t you glad they are the ones paying most taxes that benefit you?
I’m talking about net contributors, most people paying tax are not, ie are still benefiting from the taxes paid by « the rich ».

And the grunt work being done by << the poor>>

Connections don’t get you good exam results or entry into a decent university any more. Any in any case, taxing school fees or banning private schools isn’t going to get rid of “connections”.

@Another76543, I refer you to Kitten's response, above.
Connections start before exams are even taken.
And if you believe that they don't oil the wheels into elite universities, you're deluding yourself. As are so many on this thread - privilege is usually invisible to the privileged.

It's not just the selective nature of schools as I've got two DC, one of whom went to private school and one to state and the results were overwhelmingly better in the private school.

This is a lot to do with the fact you are less likely to get disciplinary issues in the classroom in private schools. My state school educated child said the teachers used to spend twenty minutes getting the class to focus before even trying to teach them. If you're only getting a maximum of half the teaching time as being productive then you can see how the system isn't working for many of our children.

They also said they learnt more in the few sessions we'd done in the holidays with revision guides than they'd learnt in the previous year of study.

Part of the problem is the idea of inclusion and pretending everyone is the same ability. I don't see how you can teach people who are completely different levels of understanding and ability in the same classroom. If you have one child that has difficulties with reading comprehension, and the other that is reading Dickens for enjoyment, how can you teach them at the same level? I'm not saying the child with difficulties can't learn anything and get the same qualifications but just they may need a different kind of approach.

Did you vote Tory op?

@SmallFerret I’m not making any errors. You were the one that shared a calculation suggesting that ALL the tax people pay more than covers their pension. Except it’s not just used to cover their pension. You conveniently forgot to omit that fact. Are you denying that there are more net beneficiaries than there are net contributors in this country?

As I said some people on low incomes do contribute to society but plenty more don’t. No one should be aiming to support a family while stacking shelves, waiting tables, serving in a shop. As a second household income, yes fine. But not as a main household income.

People think it is their right to have a child. But it really isn’t.

No they wouldn't be. They would have to take up space in schools 12 miles away that has space as described in the op. Places that no one else wants during the year 7 intake. My local school won't take new kids on when the school is full and esp won't when there are places in the less appealing school. So no it won't affect of state school child's education. You will have to take whatever spaces are left

And I’m willing to bet that taxi driver or nurse has
a) a wealthy spouse
b) wealthy family members
c) a huge inheritance
d) won the lottery

Stop insulting our intelligence by making out a nurse who earns at most 35k can afford private school fees if they just scrimp and save enough in order to tug at our heart strings. It literally isn’t possible.

Not at all. We work very hard but I don’t think my husband or I work harder than those who earn less than us for the same hours. I did lots of work in restaurants and shops etc from 16 to 22, and that was very hard work and very poorly remunerated. But in light of our income, which is big but not massive, we decided we would use most of it on our DD’s education. We only have one child and as I said in my first post, a big factor was balancing the racism and sexism she will (sadly) inevitably face in the workplace as it did for me. I know, I really do, how lucky we are to have that choice.
Lots of people I know earn much more than us and choose to prioritise their spending on other things and for lots of perfectly good reasons. I don’t think they are worse parents or are making worse choices. Everyone is different.

Oh no, they hope the « pushy mc parents » will campaign to make state schools better, ie benefitting the pupils currently in the state system.
In reality, parents priced out of private schools will hire tutors on the side, not campaign to make state better (as this type of campaigns takes years meaning your own child won’t really benefit).

Some people are paid more than others, it’s demand and supply of labour. We accept this because we live in a democracy and thankfully not a communist state. If people have more financially then they have the right to choose how to spend that money, on health or education or whatever, I couldn’t care less - it’s their choice. I do not agree that they should not be able to choose, say the best education for their kids, because ‘others work as hard but don’t have the money’. We choose our path in life including our jobs and careers.

Except everyone has a different idea of who the rich are. Most people think the rich are someone better off than them. There are not enough super rich people to fund education for the whole nation and anyway the super rich tend to have really good accountants and a multinational approach to tax planning.

In order to fund education for everyone then the MC will also have to pay more and they don't want to, which is why many of them vote Tory.

I do not agree that they should not be able to choose, say the best education for their kids, because ‘others work as hard but don’t have the money’. We choose our path in life including our jobs and careers.

Do you think everyone has equal choices then - anyone could choose a path to an income high enough to afford private education?

@Frozzie1 Not true. If supply and demand worked care workers would be paid more. Instead some care homes just refuse to take new residents and elderly people stay in hospital too long. There is always a ceiling of what people will pay.

I went to Oxford and there were tonnes of state school people around. They form at least 50% of the intake on my course.
😂😂😂

"Tonnes"? How Jilly Cooperesque.

You seem to have blithely skated past the fact that only 7% of UK kids are privately educated, so having them make up 50% of your Oxford course hardly represent the egalitarian point you are falsely claiming.

Your course wasn't logic or maths based, was it @Emotionalstorm?

I couldn't care less about your family history. You are a champagne socialist, so wear the hat and own it.

The point of the thread is, is the rise in fees reasonable? Rather predicatbly, got off topic. Why do people even post on these threads who don't use the schools?

I can’t feel sad for you.

‘Stop insulting our intelligence by making out a nurse who earns at most 35k can afford private school fees if they just scrimp and save enough in order to tug at our heart strings. It literally isn’t possible.’

This my absolute favourite!

friend is a writer - makes about £20k a year, her DH is a firefighter. DD goes to a famous school on scholarship - they still have to find £18k a year. There’s a lot of talk about ‘sacrifices’ and what they can’t afford to do. Can’t come out, Pete’s on shift, I can’t afford a sitter etc

they live mortgage free as she inherited a house from her gran. Her parents pay for most holidays - they all went ski-ing in the last one. Her parents also give a monthly sun towards the fees
Good for them, lucky them. But don’t go in a bout ‘priorities’ and sacrifices when 1) you're getting masses of help 2) there’s a very obvious alternative to being ‘broke’ because of school fees

Let me think...ah yes, because she has posted in AIBU and not on the education board.

I hope nobody railing against private schools on here will never be using private healthcare or dentistry. Did you know, privilege is usually invisible to the privileged?

I hope nobody has ever paid a premium to live in certain catchment areas? Or moved to a grammar school area?

Come to think of it, why is anyone in 'private housing' at all. Check yourselves! This thread is tone deaf, OMG! Many people are in social housing so how dare you all not be.

And while we're at it, I saw you driving your own 'private car.' This is a luxury item. Outrage! You should only be allowed to use public transport. Who do you think you are???